"A Lap of Mid-Ohio in an S8" -- link to lengthy write-up and many pics
 

<img src="http://www.pccchicago.com/images/paul/midohio/MidOhio_wallpaper.jpg">

It's finally complete and on-line!

First -- My sincere gratitude to Paul Waterloo for not only hosting this web page, but also for converting all the documents and photo's I sent him into the final version you see.

Second -- My thanks to Frank Lin of g-speed for his permission to use his track photos taken from the "race events" on his site.

As many of you know, I'm crew chief for an SCCA Formula Continental driven by my brother Don. When I bought my S8 in Jan '01, and he learned that Audi Car Club NA ran at Mid-Ohio, Don "forced" me to sign up for the June '01 event. He was always complaining that I gave him poor set-ups with his Continental because I didn't understand his problems. He said that if I drove the S8 at Mid-Ohio, I'd understand, and that he'd be my crew. Well, Don made a poor crew chief ... he didn't even check hot tire pressures and didn't understand MY problems! So we co-drove the S8 for the ACCNA '02 event, and Don's "A Lap of Mid-Ohio in an S8" is the result.

I hope you enjoy it; and if we have a few more A8's and S8's at Mid-Ohio next year, so much the better!<ul><li><a href="http://www.pccchicago.com/paul/midohio0.html">A Lap of Mid-Ohio in an S8</a></li></ul>

Great Article- now I want to go try that track! Looks like WAY too much fun!
 

How many miles is it from Denver?!?

It IS too much fun. Denver (CO) to Mansfield (OH) = 1180 miles (!!!!)
 

It was the first time for me. It has made me even more comfortable driving my car: I know now what it's capable of.

The people at this well organized event are very nice, take Randy for instance... ;-). Make sure you enter your registration forms as soon as they start registering. I'm sure Randy will let us know again when the day has come.

I did notice that after the event I have started to regularly make my tires squeal taking open curvy highway ramps! Adrenaline baby!

What I thought was funny is that A4 and A6 owners were surprised to see how agile the A8 can be even on a little rally course that was laid out there on one of the parking lots.

Excellent synopsis of S8 handling traits and remedies. :)

Lets see, 1180 miles, an A8 and a radar detector = 11 hours? ;-D
 

Just kidding- I'd have to stop for gas and food too.

One more thing I would like to add to the article...
 

Randy-

You posted times that you and your brother did, as I remember, he was about 9 seconds faster. I would like to put your times up at the bottom with modifications on your car. I would also like to post the track record, track record for your class, and maybe what some of the other Audi's turned. Would put it all in perspective. If you've got the info, send it to me. I have to say, I like it, and doing 130 into some of those curves would get me going! Hopefully not going off the track.....see you there next year!

where was your sig pic taken ? And why in the hell are your h&amp;R's sitting in your garage ?!?!?

Re: One more thing I would like to add to the article...
 

.
Well, I had thought about doing something like this originally but decided against it. Several reasons,

1. It's really not in the spirit of ACCNA track events. As you probably saw from another post, the goals are to safely have fun while learning some of the car's capabilities and limits. You will leave a better driver than you were two days earlier.

2. These are not competitive events. I wouldn't want anyone to feel that he'd be embarrassed if he showed up at the track with a 100% stock A8L on Goodyear all-season tires for example. He'd still benefit from the experience and have fun doing it; and I, for one, would like to see him there.

3. The ACCNA instructors correctly and repeatedly say that you won't be asked or expected to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. It'd be a shame if someone thought he could go five seconds faster (or 9 in my case), and then put the car into a guard rail trying. After all, we are driving our family car and don't want to send it home crumpled on a flatbed. To date, I've never seen a student damage his Audi at an ACCNA track event, and I hope it stays that way.

4. You usually are covered by standard auto insurance at these driver/safety schools, but you are NOT covered at timed events or races. [It is worth checking the fine print of your insurance policy.]

Having said this, it's only natural that you feel a little competitive; we are, after all, driving on a race track. Still, I'm satisfied if I drive a little better with each event, and knowing that an A8/S8 can keep up with any car that I've seen at any ACCNA event ... including Porsche 911 Turbo's &amp; C4's, and BMW M3's &amp; M5's. And BTW, Don was running the same lap times as the Acura NSX in the Mid-Ohio school video "In the Driver's Seat" :-)

Make sense!

Re:where was your sig pic taken? And why in the hell are your h&R's sitting in your garage?
 

My sig pic was taken a few blocks from my house in the foothills southwest of Denver. The H&amp;Rs are sitting on the floor waiting for me to make the time to install them, hopefully sometime in the next three weeks. I'm really anxious to get these things installed based upon PaulW's experience/results!